Jen Hustwitt '07 led the women's rugby team to a second-place finish at the Northeast Rugby Union Championships Nov. 11 and Nov. 12, helping the team earn a berth in April's National Championship Tournament.
For Brown, the program's second nationals bid is a nice 30th anniversary present.
For Hustwitt, it's coming full circle. As a first-year, the team's inspirational leader helped the club earn its first trip to nationals but had to watch on crutches after an injury sidelined her. Since then, she orchestrated the team's spring Uganda tour and earned individual honors as an All-American and a member of the Under-23 National Team. "It couldn't be more perfect," Hustwitt said. "With the amount of time and energy I've put into building this team, to see the results is incredible."
Those results were on display during the Northeast Rugby Union Championships, when the Bears took to a muddy pitch against the Cornell Big Red. The last time the two teams met under similar conditions proved devastating for Brown. Bruno slipped and fumbled in the mud during the closing seconds of a contest at last spring's Ivy League Championships, and Cornell flopped on the ball in the try zone for a 5-0 victory.
This time Brown's offense defied the elements, and the defense terrorized the Big Red for a 24-3 victory. Wing Edith Moreno '07 and fly-half Whitney Brown '08 raked the Big Red defense with long strikes. Flanker Thalia Beaty '08 - known more for her hard tackles than her scoring - came off a 10-minute penalty and scored the team's final try with a run through the uprights.
The next day Brown faced a U.S. Military Academy team complete with flashy sweats, two camera crews and its own bus.
Army had toyed with the Bears in the season opener at the Beantown Tournament, a 19-10 loss for Brown. Army is considered one of the top programs in the country, if not the best. "Army's a tough team," Heffernan admitted. "They practice five days of the week. They have the pick of the litter. And they're huge."
The Bears took the mud-slicked field with a confidence that is buoyed by Hustwitt's example and first-years like twins Alex Hartley '10 and Alicia Hartley '10. Army drew first blood with a try about 20 minutes in. But Alicia Hartley intercepted a pass in Army's backline to tie the game at 5-5.
Plays like Hartley's show this season's change in emphasis. Heffernan moved the team's focus this year from defense and tackling to a scramble defense, for which the object is to obstruct passing lanes. She said she realized that "Brown players think too much," adding, "(Now) their whole self-worth is not whether they made the tackle or not but whether they stole the ball. It's more forward-thinking."
That way, "You can think a lot, but it's about offense."
Brown's offense, however, got stuck in the mud during the second half against Army. Players created spaces to run but more often found themselves on their faces. Scoring opportunities materialized, but Brown failed to capitalize. "We left four tries begging at five meters," Heffernan said.
Army scored 17 unanswered points for a 22-5 final.
However, the top two seeds in the tournament advanced to nationals, and Army's 19-0 defeat of Vassar preserved Brown's second-place finish in the tournament.
"Considering all the mistakes we made and the balls we left begging, I was excited," Heffernan said. "When Army looks at that tape they're going to realize they escaped. And I'm not sure they escape (in better conditions)."
Heffernan expressed optimism about the team's chances at nationals.
"If we're as strong as I anticipate, we could be a Final Four team," Heffernan said, "which would be amazing considering we're a club sport."
The women's rugby team now has five months to train until nationals at the end of April. The team will have to find time and space to practice in the freezing Providence weather in preparation for nationals as well as the Ivy League Championships - hosted by Brown on April 14 and April 15.
Brown will also have to determine who will be on the field in the spring. In the spring the Bears will gain the services of at least two varsity athletes who will not be occupied by their other athletic commitments, one of them being All-American Emilie Bydwell '08 from the women's hockey team. The number of players planning to study abroad will become clearer after today's team meeting.
But one departure seems certain. Beaty, the team's defensive leader, will not be on the bus to State College, Pa., in April. She has opted to study Arabic in Egypt for six months instead of accompanying teammates she has battled and traveled with from New Haven, Conn., to Kyadondo, Uganda, for two and half years.
The opportunity to study in Egypt proved too good to pass up. "I feel positively terrible," said Beaty. "There is no question the team can go out and do it on the field without me. The only person that's missing out is me. I can't picture Brown without rugby."
